Yesterday, the state legislative primary elections took place and the state of Iowa has finally tallied their final votes. In the primary, voters chose Dem. Fred Hubbel to challenge Gov. Kim Reynolds in the upcoming Iowa gubernatorial election (i.e. the Governor race). However, voters also selected an arguably more noteworthy candidate: In the bid for the Democratic nominee in the Senate District 37, Iowans selected the LGBT+ activist Zach Wahls, who defended his lesbian moms back in 2011 in a now-viral video.
According to the Huffington Post, Wahls won the Democratic nomination for District 37, which mean this 26-year-old Democratic candidate will go on to run in the general election ballot in November. If Wahls wins the general election in his district, he will be the youngest elected lawmaker in the state of Iowa. However, that won’t be Wahls’s first brush with political notoriety.
ABC News notes that at the age of 19, Wahls delivered an inspiring speech to the Iowa House of Representatives about marriage equality. Wahls used the beautiful relationship between his mothers to show that same-sex couples are more than equipt to raise children and grow a family.
IOWA — Remember that young man from Iowa who spoke to the Iowa legislature a few years ago about growing up with two moms? Hi. That was me — and today, I'm announcing my campaign to join the Iowa legislature. I hope you'll support our campaign. https://t.co/jrEleWPyWk
— Zach Wahls (@ZachWahls) December 21, 2017
At the time of his speech, Wahls was an Iowa State University student. Since his speech, he has continued to advocate for LGBT+ rights and has written a book, My Two Moms: Lessons of Love, Strength, and What Makes a Family, about his mothers and his family.
Now that Wahls landed the Dem. Nomination for District 37, which comprises of Cedar County, part of Johnson County, and a portion of Iowa City as well as Muscatine County, he can add another achievement to his metaphorical life resume.
The Iowa City Press-Citizen notes that some of Wahls’s political platforms include reversing the state’s Medicaid privatization, combating the fetal heartbeat abortion bill, and creating a sustainable living wage. The Gazette adds that, in the past, Wahls has co-founded Scouts for Equality which ultimately annexed the Boy Scouts of America’s ban and discrimination of LGBT+ people.
Because Zach Wahl continually supports the LGBT+ community, equal rights and human rights, we can help but wonder what revolutionary plans he has in store for District 37, if he wins the general election later this year. With Pride Month events well underway (and Iowa's Pride festivities, specifically in Des Moines and Iowa City, taking place this weekend and next), we can't think of a better way to support LGBT+ rights.
